"A&P" is narrated from a limited first-person point of view. This narrative technique reveals Sammy's thoughts and feelings toward the other characters and their actions. Most importantly, it emphasizes the nineteen-year-old speaker's naïveté and limited life experience.

The first part of the story explores themes of sexuality, gender, power, and social class. Sammy and other male characters are attracted to Queenie and her bathing suit–clad female friends. Sammy feels stirrings as he watches Queenie's movements, which he says "made my stomach rub the inside of my apron." He and his coworker Stokesie ogle the girls, saying, "Oh Daddy. . . . I feel so faint" and "Darling. . . . Hold me tight."

Queenie is aware of her effect on other people (both male and female) and wields sexual power in her appearance and actions. Casually allowing her bathing suit's straps to dangle off her white shoulders, she lets the suit slip lower to display more of her chest. She confidently strides through the store, demonstrating to her friends:

how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight.

Nonetheless, Lengel, the manager, wields his male power and authority by shaming her. Like a strict policy-following kingpin, he admonishes her for dressing indecently in the store.

The story also emphasizes differences in social and economic classes. Queenie's smooth and attractive appearance contrasts with frumpy "houseslaves in pin curlers" and harried mothers with children. Updike uses figurative language to reveal Sammy's patronizing view of these everyday customers.

To Sammy, customers are "sheep" and "scared pigs in a chute." Sheep symbolize compliant creatures that blindly act the same and do not think for themselves. Similarly, the customers focus only on mundane tasks and even walk down the grocery store aisles in the "correct" direction. Like "scared pigs in a chute," the customers crowd together as they line up to be checked out. They silently and nervously gawk at any unusual action as a group, like Lengel scolding the girls.

Queenie's purchase of expensive pickled herrings symbolizes the upper class. These snacks contrast with other shoppers' cheaper items, like oatmeal and applesauce. The pickled herring snacks also inspire Sammy to picture fancy parties thrown by Queenie's parents with pricey foods and cocktails. In contrast, his parents serve their guests beer in cheap glasses. Even Queenie's voice sounds "tony."

Queenie's entitled behavior reveals how members of the higher social classes sometimes believe they can flout social norms. Queenie and her peers do not bat an eye at wearing inappropriate attire in the grocery store. When Lengel scolds them for shopping in indecent clothes (i.e., bathing suits), Queenie tries to justify her actions with

My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks.

Even after Queenie finally insists, "We are decent," Lengel refuses to back down.

At the end of the story, Sammy develops from an idealistic boy into one who realizes that his seemingly heroic gesture may be empty. After capriciously quitting his job in solidarity with the girls he felt were wrongly embarrassed, he gleefully explains,

I just saunter into the electric eye in my white shirt that my mother ironed the night before.

Sammy's mother still irons his shirts for him, showing his immatureness. In that same immaturity, Sammy idealistically tries to make a statement that falls flat. His valiant action is unrecognized and fails to change anything.

By the end, Sammy says,

my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.

Instead of being heroic, Sammy is unemployed and realizes how he is easily replaced.

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

Nowadays, it's common for businesses to display signs outlining their rules, such as "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service." Similarly, movie theaters frequently remind patrons not to talk during films. Society has become so casual that reminders of basic decency and courtesy are now commonplace. This marks a stark contrast to a generation or two ago, when standards of appearance and behavior were more stringent and widely accepted. Women were expected to wear hats in church, while men were required to remove theirs. In the workplace, rules were often unwritten but seldom broken. Women typically wore dresses, nylons, and girdles, while men donned gray, blue, or black suits and never left home without a tie.

This period was the 1950s and early 1960s, when conservative attire reflected conservative social values. Conformity was not only a measure of popularity but also a gauge of moral righteousness. Most people, especially those in the middle class, aspired to blend in with their neighbors. Suburbs were filled with identical houses, and the American dream consisted of having a family, a car, and the modern conveniences that equated them with others of similar social standing. Those who defied these norms were often labeled eccentric or bohemian.

The rebellion of many young people from the mid-1960s onward sprang from what they perceived as the oppressive rules imposed by their parents. Sammy serves as a prime example of this. He understands the rules but does not respect the "sheep" who follow them without question. When he quits his job at the grocery store, he disrupts the status quo, an action his parents find "sad." By refusing to conform and return to his job, Sammy takes a stand that makes him realize "how hard the world was going to be . . . hereafter." In such a rigid society, he recognizes that he may be branded as an outsider or troublemaker for challenging the unwritten code of acceptable behavior.

There was little positive motivation for Sammy to behave as he did. In the late 1950s, while the culture had its iconoclasts, they were never endorsed by the mainstream. In Nicholas Ray’s 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, a teenager, portrayed by James Dean, embarks on a quest for love and warmth in a cold, loveless world, which ends in tragedy. All movies were subject to censorship by the Hayes Office before the contemporary rating system was established in the late 1960s. Not only were sex, obscene language, and violence strictly limited, but characters with low morals were required to face negative consequences for their actions within the film. Jack Kerouac’s influential novel On the Road, published in 1957, narrates the adventures of beatnik outcasts Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they drive across the United States, listening to jazz and smoking marijuana in their search for something genuine in American culture. During this time, Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl was also published. In it, Ginsberg criticizes a conformist culture for stifling the creative spirit of artists: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.” Such strong language was not well-received by mainstream society. The poem became the center of a landmark obscenity trial, and its publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books, was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department and charged with obscenity.

Rock’n’roll music emerged in the 1950s. At best, it was dismissed as a passing fad; at worst, it was seen as the devil’s work. The new music was imbued with a sensuality that middle America vehemently condemned, mainly because it caused young people to express emotions that had previously been largely suppressed. Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry were viewed with suspicion for their wild movements, flashy attire, and for luring American youth away from safe, decent, and sexually modest entertainment. This is the world into which Updike introduces the three teenage girls in bathing suits in “A&P.”

The events of “A&P” unfold in a grocery store located in a town north of Boston, about five miles away from the nearest beach. Updike shared with Short Stories for Students that he penned “A&P” “in 1961, while I was residing in Ipswich, Massachusetts. As I drove past the local A&P, I wondered, ‘Why aren’t there any short stories set inside an A&P?’ Inspired by this thought, I decided to write one, based on a brief sighting of some girls in bathing suits shopping in the aisles. They appeared strikingly naked.” Updike further explained: “Initially, the story continued beyond its current ending: Sammy goes to the beach to search for the girls but never finds them. However, the story’s editor at the New Yorker believed it concluded perfectly where it now ends, and I agreed with him.”

Point of View and Narration

The story is narrated by Sammy, a checkout clerk, in the first person. His voice is casual and personal. His informal speech emphasizes his unique character and tendency to challenge authority. Slang terms, such as describing a dollar bill that had “just come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known,” paint him as a typical teenage boy. By using the present tense, he makes the story feel immediate and speaks as if conversing with a friend—“I uncrease the bill, tenderly as you may imagine”—instantly connecting the reader to his perspective. The reader experiences everything through his eyes. When the girls in bathing suits vanish from his sight, they also vanish from the reader's sight.

Sammy's choice of words suggests he is likely not highly educated. He starts the story with, "In walks these three girls." He also uses a kind of witty slang when speaking to Stokesie. However, the directness of his voice makes him seem like a reliable narrator, conveying the truth even when it doesn't show him in the best light.

Symbolism

“A&P” is filled with symbolism. The HiHo crackers Sammy rings up serve as an exclamation. When he rings them up a second time, it's as if he's saying “Heigh-ho! Something unusual is happening!” and an older woman scolds him for it. The other shoppers are depicted as “sheep” mindlessly wandering up and down the aisles, eventually filing into the chutes to check out. Near the story's end, they crowd together in Stokesie’s chute, resembling anxious sheep. The girls are likened to bees from the moment Sammy identifies one as the “Queen,” leading the others around the store. He soon wonders what they are thinking, speculating if it’s “just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar.” Like buzzing bees, they make everyone slightly uneasy. They act as the story's catalyst, causing a stir as they move through the store. The girls, especially Queenie with her loose shoulder straps, symbolize sexual freedom as they roam the store. This freedom is quickly stifled when Lengel arrives. At the end, Lengel attempts to persuade Sammy to stay, but Sammy, unable to forget the girls' embarrassment, rings up No Sale on the cash register. He is not buying into it.

Epiphany

An epiphany is a moment of sudden insight triggered by a seemingly ordinary event. For Sammy, what starts as a routine day leads to a profound realization: “I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” This concluding statement in “A&P” is the result of witnessing a minor incident where three girls, dressed inappropriately, are scolded for their appearance. Through this epiphany, Updike demonstrates how everyday people evolve and change. Ordinary occurrences become significant as individuals reflect on their motivations and reasons behind their actions. At nineteen, Sammy is at an age where such experiences begin to shape his identity. He realizes, as “his stomach kind of fell,” that he does not want to conform blindly to societal expectations.

Another notable literary example of an epiphany is found in James Joyce’s story “Araby.” Here, a boy is ashamed to realize he has been idolizing a friend’s sister after going to a church carnival to buy her a gift, a symbol of his admiration. Upon discovering that the carnival is merely a ploy to sell cheap trinkets and that his friend’s sister is just an ordinary girl with no special interest in him, his eyes “burned with anguish and anger.” Walter Wells explores the similarity between the epiphany in “Araby,” where an adolescent understands the futility of romantic pursuits, and the one in “A&P” in his essay “John Updike’s ‘A&P’: A Return Visit to Araby.” He observes that both protagonists become “smitten . . . distracted, agitated, disoriented” by attractive, unattainable girls. Moreover, “both protagonists have come to realize that romantic gestures—in fact, that the whole chivalric world view—are, in modern times, counterproductive.”

1959: Despite only ten percent of grocery stores being large enough to qualify as supermarkets, they account for nearly seventy percent of all food sales in the United States. (The A&P, originally known as the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, is one of these supermarkets.) This statistic reflects the trend toward suburbanization, as most supermarkets are situated in rapidly growing suburbs.

1993: Sears Roebuck ceases the publication of the Sears Catalogue, which for nearly a century allowed people to mail order everything from groceries to prefabricated houses. Additionally, Sears shuts down over a hundred stores nationwide. This decision is influenced by the increasing popularity of “category killer” stores—large, warehouse-like retailers that specialize in specific niche markets, such as housewares, and offer significant discounts through bulk purchasing.

1961: FCC chairman Newton Minow famously describes television as “a vast wasteland” filled with “blood and thunder . . . mayhem, violence, sadism, murder . . . more violence, and cartoons . . . and, endlessly, commercials—many screaming, cajoling, and offending.”

1997: In response to pressure from parents worried about the impact of violence and sex on their children, television networks agree to implement a rating system for TV programs. This system allows parents to determine whether a program’s content is appropriate for their children.

1960s: Alfred Kinsey’s research on female sexuality reveals that one-third of all twenty-five-year-old unmarried women are sexually active. Other studies suggest that seventy-five percent of young unmarried women are virgins, while an estimated forty percent of unmarried men are virgins.

1990s: According to most surveys, the majority of females are sexually active by the age of seventeen. Thirty percent of all children in the United States are born out of wedlock. Additionally, eighty percent of teenage mothers are unmarried, and eighty percent of these unmarried teenage mothers rely on welfare to support their babies.

Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories (1962) by John Updike features a range of tales. One notable story in this collection is “A&P,” which explores how characters make decisions and cope with the consequences as they mature.

“A&P” is narrated by the author on the audiocassette Couples and Pigeon Feathers, released by Caedmon Audio Cassette. This cassette also features additional stories from both collections.

Butscher, Edward. “John Updike: Overview.” In Reference Guide to Short Fiction, 1st ed. Edited by Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. This article provides an overview of Updike’s career.

Dessner, Lawrence Jay. “Irony and Innocence in John Updike’s A&P.” Studies in Short Fiction (Summer 1988): 315–17. Dessner analyzes the character of Sammy, suggesting that he concentrates on trivial issues while ignoring significant ones that will affect his life.

Greiner, Donald J. In The Other John Updike: Poems, Short Stories, Prose, Plays. Ohio University Press, 1981, p. 297. This work offers a critical review of Updike’s literary contributions.

Kellner, Bruce. “ ‘A&P’: Overview.” Reference Guide to Short Fiction, 1st ed. Edited by Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Kellner presents an overview of Updike’s “highly entertaining moral tale,” with a particular emphasis on the development of Sammy.

McFarland, Ronald E. “Updike and the Critics: Reflections on A&P.” Studies in Short Fiction 20 (Spring–Summer 1983): 95–100. Reprinted in Short Story Criticism, vol. 27. Edited by Anna J. Sheets. Detroit: Gale, 1998, pp. 319–330. McFarland explores critical responses to Updike’s work and discusses why “A&P” is his most recognized story.

Saldivar, Toni. “The Art of John Updike’s A&P.” Studies in Short Fiction (Spring 1997): 215. Saldivar connects the detailed portrayal of the three teenage girls in “A&P” to Sandro Botticelli’s painting “Birth of Venus.”

Shaw, Patrick W. “Checking Out Faith and Lust: Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’ and Updike’s A&P.” Studies in Short Fiction (Summer 1986): 321–23. Shaw examines themes of rebellion and eroticism in “A&P” and posits that Sammy is a reference to Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown.

Uphaus, Suzanne Henning. Some Short Stories. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1980, pp. 121–30. Uphaus focuses on the story’s irony while offering a general summary of the plot and characters.

Wells, Walter. “John Updike’s ‘A&P’: A Return Visit to Araby.” Studies in Short Fiction (Spring 1993): 127–33. Wells draws a comparison between “A&P” and Joyce’s “Araby.”

Sources

Uphaus, Suzanne. John Updike. Ungar, 1980, pp. 125–126.

Detweiler, Robert. John Updike. Twayne, 1972, p. 68.

Luscher, Robert M. John Updike: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne, 1993.

Mizener, Arthur. “Behind the Dazzle Is a Knowing Eye,” New York Times Book Review, March 18, 1962.

Porter, M. Gilbert. “John Updike’s ‘A&P’: The Establishment and the Emersonian Cashier,” English Journal, Vol. 61, November 1972, p. 1157.

Review of Pigeon Feathers, Times Literary Supplement, February 1, 1963, p. 73.

Review of Pigeon Feathers, Time, March 16, 1962, p. 86.

Further Reading

Macnaughton, William R. Critical Essays on John Updike. G. K. Hall, 1982.

A comprehensive collection of essays and critiques. Contributors include both fiction writers and Updike scholars.

Javna, John, and Gordon Javna. 60s’. St. Martin’s, 1988.

An exploration of 1960s popular culture, covering everything from toys to TV shows. It also revisits some ’60s trends that have resurfaced.